On-line higher education financing system

ABSTRACT

A method of providing a user with education financing information, includes the acts of: maintaining an electronic site on a computer network to which the user may connect; sending data to the user over the network for presenting at least one electronic screen which contains financial award information concerning a potential student of an educational institution, the financial award information including a monetary award which may be used for the student to attend the educational institution; and sending data to the user over the network when requested for presenting at least one electronic screen which contains cost projection information, the cost projection information being a function of the award and including an amount of money required for the student to attend the educational institution.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based on and claims priority to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Applications No. 60/145,699, filed Jul. 26, 1999, and No.60/171,934 filed Dec. 22, 1999, both entitled “ON-LINE HIGHER EDUCATIONFINANCING SYSTEM,” the entire disclosures of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing auser with education financing information and, more particularly,relates to enabling the user to receive financial award information froman educational institution over a computer network concerning apotential student and enabling that user to obtain cost projectioninformation, such as loan repayment information, based on the award.

2. Related Art

Many individuals require financial assistance in paying for aneducation, whether it be in the form of grants, scholarships, specialemployment (e.g., work-study programs), and/or loans. Many sucheducational institutions (e.g., schools, such as colleges anduniversities) provide various forms of assistance in obtaining financialaid for potential students.

Typically, financial aid offices at schools assemble financial awardinformation including, for example, financial aid award packagescontaining monetary awards which are funded from one or more grants,scholarships, work study or teaching assistanceship jobs, and/or loans.Representatives of the financial aid offices will often tailor thesefinancial aid award packages for the potential students and, therefore,the awards will often be different (based on, for example, financialneed, the desirability of the student, etc.).

The financial aid office will mail many (i.e., a batch or lot) financialaid award packages to potential students with the hope that thefinancial aid award is attractive to the student and that the studentwill accept the award and attend the school. The cost for mailing manyfinancial aid award packages can be substantial, for example, eachpackage may cost approximately $10.00 to mail to 1000 potentialstudents. Accordingly, schools are interested in other modes oftransmitting financial aid award packages to their potential studentswhich are less costly.

Typically, the loans which fund the financial aid awards include federalloans, such as Perkins and Stafford loans. The interest rates for theseloans are not within the control of the schools or the financialinstitutions which issue those loans and, therefore, the student/parentdecision on accepting a financial aid award package usually isinfluenced in other ways. Further, the schools and financialinstitutions will have little opportunity to influence the potentialstudents to accept the award after the packages have been sent out inthe mail. Accordingly, schools and financial institutions are interestedin other modes of influencing the potential students to accept the awardpackages and admission after the awards are mailed.

The amount of money offered in a financial aid award package for aparticular student is often dependent on a total amount of fundsavailable to the school by way of grants, scholarships, work-study, etc.Accordingly, when potential students decline financial aid awardpackages, additional funds may be available to offer to the otherpotential students, thereby positively influencing the student/parentdecision on accepting a financial aid award package and attending theschool. Thus, the schools are interested in obtaining a student/parentdecision on the financial aid award packages as soon as possible.Unfortunately, using current processes there may be significant delaysbetween the time that a student receives a financial aid award packageand the time that the student responds to the package with an acceptanceor declination.

A student/parent must weigh many factors in accepting or declining afinancial aid award package. In particular, the student/parent mustdetermine whether he or she can afford to attend the school even if afinancial aid award package is given. Thus, the student/parent mustreview the cost of attendance, including any direct and indirect costs,in light of the financial aid award package and project the net costs tothe student/parent in meeting the unmet needs (including loan repaymentschedules) for attendance. This typically involves contacting an expert(or accessing some software) who is capable of projecting costs for thestudent/parent based on input from the student/parent. In working withan expert, the student/parent should consider prior school loanobligations (for example, loans incurred to obtain an earlier degree orcourse of study) in projecting the costs and loan repayment obligationsto attend another school. In determining loan repayments, thestudent/parent should consider total loan balance, a repayment schedule,interest rate(s), etc. Loan repayment information should be obtained forparticular school terms, particular years, and a total for all years ofstudy.

A system called CollegeNET has been developed and offered by Sallie Maewhich provides a system for presenting financial award information overthe Internet to potential students. A particular school mails an awardletter to a potential student which includes a user name and password toaccess a secure website. The student logs onto the website and accessestheir financial aid award package. The student can choose a preferredlender if a loan is awarded and input other information necessary foraccepting the award. The student's response to the award is reported tothe school.

Unfortunately, the CollegeNET system suffers from several disadvantages,among others: (i) the website does not provide an opportunity to reviewcost projections or manipulate loan variables such that thestudent/parent can determine what the loan repayment obligations willbe; (ii) the student/parent cannot modify the financial aid awardpackage to reflect other sources of funds which would alter costprojections and/or loan repayment obligations; and (iii) the system doesnot provide the student/parent with information as to the break-out ofthe cost of attendance in terms of direct and indirect costs to thestudent/parent.

Sallie Mae, Nellie Mae, Educaid, and Citibank offer on-line websiteswhich provide calculating functions to project costs, such as loanrepayment obligations. These systems, however, are not linked with afinancial aid award package website and, therefore, require the user toinput all information necessary for obtaining a cost projection or loanrepayment schedule.

Further, in addition to financial aid based on need, some studentsobtain financial aid based on merit, or a combination of need and merit.There is a need for users to be able to determine education financingrequirements based on merit based financial aid packages as well ascombination packages. Further, there is a need for users to be able todetermine financial requirements for students for higher education evenwhere no financial assistance is provided.

Accordingly, there is a need for a new method and apparatus forproviding students and parents with education financing information,particularly financial aid award packages, where the student/parent can:(i) easily review the financial aid award package; (ii) review costprojections (e.g., loan repayment information); (iii) view and selectpotential lenders; (iv) modify a financial aid award package to include,for example, other sources of funds outside the award or toincrease/decrease, for example, the amount(s) of loan(s) awarded, sothat a more informed decision may be made. There is also a need for amethod and system which can: (i) reduce the costs for a school totransmit financial aid award packages to potential students; (ii)quickly modify the financial aid award packages based onaccept/decline/postpone decisions of the students/parents; and (iii)provide influence on the student/parent decision at the time ofreviewing the award package.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art, a methodaccording to one aspect of the present invention provides the steps of:maintaining an electronic site on a computer network to which the usermay connect; sending data to the user over the network for presenting atleast one electronic screen which contains financial award informationconcerning a potential student of an educational institution, thefinancial award information including a monetary award which may be usedby the student to attend the educational institution; and sending datato the user over the network when requested for presenting at least oneelectronic screen which contains cost projection information, the costprojection information being a function of the award and including anamount of money required for the student to attend the educationalinstitution.

A method according to another aspect of the invention includes the stepsof: maintaining an electronic site on a computer network to which theuser may connect; sending data to the user over the network forpresenting at least one electronic screen which contains financial awardinformation concerning a potential student of an educationalinstitution, the financial award information including a monetary awardwhich may be used by the student to attend the educational institution,the award including funds taken from at least one of grants,scholarships, loans, and future employment of the student; and sendingdata to the user over the computer network for presenting at least oneelectronic screen which includes an input field operable to receive datafrom the user representing funds other than those of the award toaggregate with the award to obtain a modified award.

A method according to yet another aspect of the present inventionincludes the steps of: maintaining an electronic site on a computernetwork to which users and an administrator of an educationalinstitution may connect; sending data to each of the users over thenetwork for presenting at least one electronic screen which containsfinancial award information concerning potential students of aneducational institution, the financial award information including amonetary award which may be used by the respective students to attendthe educational institution, the award including funds taken from atleast one of grants, scholarships, loans, and future employment of thestudent; sending data to the administrator over the computer network forpresenting at least one electronic screen which includes reportinginformation indicating whether respective users have at least one ofaccepted, declined, and deferred a decision on, the respective awards;and sending modified financial award information to at least one of thepotential students, the modified financial award information includingat least one modified monetary award based on the reporting information.

The scope of the present invention includes an apparatus for providing auser with education financing information, comprising: a processor; astorage medium coupled to the processor; and a network interface coupledto the processor and operable to send and receive data over a computernetwork, the processor being operable to execute instructions inaccordance with a computer program which is at least partially stored inthe storage medium, the computer program being operable to instruct atleast one of the processor and the network interface to perform thefunctions of: maintaining an electronic site on a computer network towhich the user may connect; sending data to the user over the networkfor presenting at least one electronic screen which contains financialaward information concerning a potential student of an educationalinstitution, the financial award information including a monetary awardwhich may be used by the student to attend the educational institution;and sending data to the user over the network when requested forpresenting at least one electronic screen which contains cost projectioninformation, the cost projection information being a function of theaward and including an amount of money required for the student toattend the educational institution.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus forproviding a user with education financing information includes: aprocessor; a storage medium coupled to the processor; and a networkinterface coupled to the processor and operable to send and receive dataover a computer network, the processor being operable to executeinstructions in accordance with a computer program which is at leastpartially stored in the storage medium, the computer program beingoperable to instruct at least one of the processor and the networkinterface to perform the functions of: maintaining an electronic site ona computer network to which the user may connect; sending data to theuser over the network for presenting at least one electronic screenwhich contains financial award information concerning a potentialstudent of an educational institution, the financial award informationincluding a monetary award which may be used by the student to attendthe educational institution, the award including funds taken from atleast one of grants, scholarships, loans, and employment of the student;and sending data to the user over the computer network for presenting atleast one electronic screen which includes an input field operable toreceive data from the user representing funds other than those of theaward to aggregate with the award to obtain a modified award.

The present invention also includes an apparatus for providing userswith education financing information, comprising: a processor; a storagemedium coupled to the processor; and a network interface coupled to theprocessor and operable to send and receive data over a computer network,the processor being operable to execute instructions in accordance witha computer program which is at least partially stored in the storagemedium, the computer program being operable to instruct at least one ofthe processor and the network interface to perform the functions of:maintaining an electronic site on a computer network to which the usersand an administrator of an educational institution may connect; sendingdata to each of the users over the network for presenting at least oneelectronic screen which contains financial award information concerningpotential students of an educational institution, the financial awardinformation including a monetary award which may be used by therespective students to attend the educational institution, the awardincluding funds taken from at least one of grants, scholarships, loans,and employment of the student; sending data to the administrator overthe computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen whichincludes reporting information indicating whether respective users haveat least one of accepted, declined, and deferred a decision on, therespective awards; and sending modified financial award information toat least one of the potential students, the modified financial awardinformation including at least one modified monetary award based on thereporting information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purposes of illustrating the invention, there are shown in thedrawing forms which are presently preferred, it being understood,however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangementsand instrumentalities shown.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the system architecture of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 2A-2F contain process flow diagrams illustrating steps and controlsequences carried out by the present invention, e.g., the system of FIG.1, when one or more students/parents interact with the system;

FIGS. 3A-3J contain diagrams which schematically represent informationwhich is preferably obtained through a network website in accordancewith the flow diagrams of FIGS. 2A-2F;

FIGS. 4A-4E contain process flow diagrams illustrating steps and controlsequences carried out by the present invention, e.g., the system of FIG.1, when one or more school administrators interact with the system;

FIGS. 5A-5J contain diagrams which schematically represent informationwhich is preferably obtained through a network website in accordancewith the flow diagrams of FIGS. 4A-4E;

FIGS. 6A-6F contain process flow diagrams illustrating steps and controlsequences carried out by the present invention, e.g., the system of FIG.1, when one or more system administrators interact with the system;

FIGS. 7A-7F contain diagrams which schematically represent informationwhich is preferably obtained through a network website in accordancewith the flow diagrams of FIGS. 6A-6F.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings wherein like numerals indicate likeelements, there is shown in FIG. 1 a block diagram of a systemarchitecture which is suitable for use in practicing the invention. Thesystem preferably includes a network server 10 coupled to a network 20through a firewall 30. It is most preferred that the network 20 is theInternet, although any computer network is considered within the scopeof the invention.

The network server 10 includes a processor, e.g., microprocessor 12, adatabase 14 coupled to the microprocessor 12, and a network interface(input/output circuit) coupled to the microprocessor 12 and operable tosend and receive data over the computer network 20. The microprocessor12 is operable to execute instructions in accordance with a computerprogram stored in a memory, not shown in FIG. 1, connected to themicroprocessor 12.

Students/parents 50, school administrators 60, and at least one systemadministrator 70 may access the website established by the networkserver 10 through the computer network 20 using means which are wellknown in the art, for example, by mainframe or personal computer, bytelephone, or by any other data input/output device. The systemadministrator 70 may also access the network server 10 directly ifdesired. As is well known in the art, the firewall 30 providesprotection to the network server 10.

Preferably, the network server 10 and firewall 30 are contained within afinancial institution 40, such as the Chase Manhattan Bank, and thesystem administrator 70 is an agent of the financial institution 40.

The computer program is preferably operable to instruct themicroprocessor and/or the network interface 16 to perform the functionsof maintaining an electronic site (e.g., an Internet website) on thecomputer network 20 to which the students/parents 50, schooladministrators 60, and system administrators 70 may connect.

The school administrators 60 preferably transmit financial awardinformation from their respective schools over the computer network 20concerning the potential students 50. The microprocessor 12 and networkinterface 16 preferably respond by sending data over the network 20 forpresenting at least one electronic screen (i.e., an electronic filecontaining information suitable for presentation to the students/parents50) which contains the financial award information.

The school administrator 60 preferably mails a letter to a potentialstudent 50 which contains an announcement that a financial aid awardpackage has been granted to that student 50 and may be obtained byvisiting the website on the computer network 20. The letter preferablycontains a URL address, user name and password.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2A which illustrates some of the processflow and control sequences which are in accord with the invention. It ispreferred that a student/parent 50 connect to the website provided bythe network server 10 using any of the known techniques, for example, byemploying an Internet browser and inputting the URL address (START). Inresponse, the network server 10 preferably provides the student/parent50 with data presenting an electronic screen (FIG. 3A) which facilitatesa log-in procedure (step 200, FIG. 2A). FIG. 3A is an illustration of anelectronic screen which facilitates the log-in procedure. A dialog box300 enables the student/parent 50 to enter the user name and password asis well known in the art. Those skilled in the art are familiar withsuch log-in procedures, which include the steps of entering a user nameand password, determining whether they are correct (step 202, FIG. 2A),determining whether an incorrect password limit has been reached (step204), determining whether the student/parent 50 is visiting the websitefor the first time (step 206), and changing a password (step 208).

FIG. 3A1 schematically illustrates several areas on a “help” electronicscreen which may be used to improve the look and feel and/or thefunctionality of the website. In particular, area 302 provides abranding site for the financial institution 40, here Chase ManhattanBank, and provides an area where a slogan or other such indicia may bepresented. Area 304 preferably includes navigational icons (breadcrumbs)which may be activated to link the student/parent 50 to other areas ofthe website. Area 306 preferably provides either still or movinggraphics to improve the look and feel of the website. Area 308preferably provides an area where navigational icons will be disposed,it being understood that these icons are “greyed out” at log-in. Anantroductory or “splash” electronic screen may also be provided afterthe user has successfully logged into the site. This is shown in FIG.3A2. Area 310 preferably provides an area where indicia welcoming thestudent/parent 50 to the website and a disclaimer may be presented.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the particular schematiclayout of the electronic screens of FIGS. 3A, 3A1 and 3A2 are providedby way of example only and that many modifications and variations arepossible without departing from the scope of the invention.

Once the log-in procedure is successfully completed, the process flowand control causes the network server 10 to provide data presenting anelectronic screen to the student/parent 50 representing the home page ofthe website (FIG. 3B). The home page includes an area 312 whichidentifies the student 50 by name, student ID or social security number,address, and telephone number. The name of the school may be provided atarea 314 and a welcome message from that school may be included in area316. With reference to FIGS. 3B, 2B and 2C, area 318 provides links toother portions of the website, in particular: (i) instructions on how touse the application may be activated and reviewed (step 238); (ii) alink to the student's 50 award package may be activated (step 210, FIG.2C); (iii) a link to the policies, rules, and/or regulations forfinancial aid may be activated (step 232); (iv) a link to financial aideligibility requirements may be activated (step 234); (v) a link toinformation about the school may be activated (step 240); (vi) a link tosecurity information about the website may be activated (step 244); and(vii) a link to additional information about the school, such aspromotional material, may be activated (step 246).

Area 308 (FIG. 3B) preferably provides a series of icons which may beactivated by the student/parent 50 to visit specific areas of thewebsite, namely, the home page 308A, the award package information 308B,package history 308C, help 308D, and the log-out screen 308E. Inaddition, a resource area 320 preferably includes a plurality ofadditional links to the instructions, the financial aid policies, thefinancial aid eligibility requirements, a glossary, and a costprojection calculator (financial planning tools).

With reference to FIG. 2C, if a valid Institutional Student InformationReport (ISIR) is on file (step 210) and a financial aid award isoutstanding (step 212), the student/parent 50 may activate the awardpackage icon 308B (FIG. 3B) or activate the “Go to My Award Package”link at area 318 to view his or her financial aid award package (step214, FIG. 2C). Alternatively, if the student/parent 50 has alreadyaccepted a financial aid award package, then at step 212 the processflow would continue to step 216 where the previously accepted awardpackage could be viewed.

With reference to FIG. 3C, a schematic representation of an electronicscreen suitable for presenting the financial aid award package to thestudent/parent 50 is illustrated. The electronic screen includes an area322 which contains the details of the financial aid award package. Area322 preferably includes details on the sources of the funds for theaward package, namely: (i) grants (e.g., Federal Pell grant, FederalSEOG, State grants) 322A; (ii) scholarships (e.g., institutionalscholarships, non-institutional scholarships, State scholarships,private scholarships, etc.) 322B; (iii) jobs (e.g., Federal work studyjobs, institutional work study jobs, teaching assistanceships, etc.)322C; (iv) and loans (e.g., Federal Perkins loans, Federal UnsubsidizedStafford loans, institutional loans, Plus loans, private loans, privatesignature loans, etc.) 322D.

Preferably, the amounts of the grants 322A, scholarships 322B, jobs 322Cand loans 322D, are shown for at least individual school terms, schoolyears, and totals for the school year 322E. Subtotals for the grants,scholarships, jobs, and loans are also preferably provided. At 322F, atotal award package amount is provided which indicates the amount ofaward money which may be utilized by the student 50 to attend the schoolfor the entire school year.

The screen shown in FIG. 3C also preferably includes additionalinformation, not shown in FIG. 3C but shown in FIG. 3C1. FIG. 3C1 showsthe award package information 322 as well as areas 324 and 326.

At area 324, fundamental financial information is preferably provided,namely: (i) the cost of attending the financial institution; (ii) anexpected monetary contribution by/for the student 50; (iii) thestudent's financial need; (iv) the student's total award package; and(v) the student's unmet need. The student's unmet need is the cost ofattendance less the expected contribution and the total award package,here $10,170.00.

With reference to FIG. 2C, after reviewing his or her award package, thestudent/parent 50 may (i) modify the award package; (ii) accept; (iii)decline the award package; (iv) or make a decision regarding the awardpackage at a later date, (step 218). The student/parent 50 may utilize acost projection calculator (step 220) at any time during his or hervisit to the website. In FIG. 3C1, in area 326, by selecting “Continue”,the user is provided with the opportunity to make an accept/declineaward package decision. This is shown in FIG. 3C2 at area 326A.

FIGS. 3C3 and 3C4 show additional screens which are presented to theuser. After the user has reviewed the award package, the user cancontinue with the process by clicking continue in area 326 of FIG. 3C.If the student has education cost not covered by the award package, aspecial screen will appear, the “Educational Costs Not Covered” screen.This is shown in FIG. 3C3. This step provides a user with an additionalopportunity to consider financing options and/or make changes to coverthese costs. If the student's award package covers all educationalcosts, this screen will not be displayed. The user will automatically bedirected to the next step in the process. Turning to FIG. 3C3, the useris presented with several options. The student may take the opportunityto consider other financing options to cover the educational costs notcovered by the award package by clicking on the link 327. Alternatively,the student can decide to continue on by clicking next 329.

By clicking “here” to review financing options, the user is presentedwith a screen listing financing options available, as shown in FIG. 3C4.If the student decides to add financing options to the award package,the process provides a convenient link 327A that brings the studentdirectly to the package worksheet on the “Change My Package” page whichwill be described later.

FIG. 3D schematically illustrates an electronic screen providing atleast some of the cost projection calculator function and FIG. 2Dillustrates the process flow. The electronic screen of FIG. 3D may beinvoked by activating the “Use Planning tools” portion of area 326 inFIG. 3C1. Alternatively, the “Financial Planning Tools” portion of theresource area 320 in FIG. 3B may be activated. This corresponds to step250 of FIG. 2D. The financial projection calculations worksheet screen(FIG. 3D) preferably includes an area 330 containing the details of thestudent award package 322 which has been automatically transferred fromthe database 14 (FIG. 1) to the electronic screen of FIG. 3D.

Area 330 also preferably includes at least one of: (i) a cost for thestudent 50 to attend the school; (ii) an expected monetary contributionby/for the student 50; and (iii) the student's financial need (alldesignated 334). Although not shown in FIG. 3D, the cost 336 for thestudent to attend the school may optionally be provided in terms ofdirect costs, such as tuition, and indirect costs, such as room, board,books, supplies, and/or transportation. Preferably, the total cost ofattendance 336 is the sum of the direct and indirect costs of attendingthe school. The total cost of attendance 336 less the expected monetarycontribution 337 results in the financial need 339 of the student/parent50. A total award package figure may be provided which, when subtractedfrom the total cost of attendance of the student/parent 50, results inthe unmet need 341 of the student/parent 50.

Other financing options may be entered at 338 which will reduce theunmet need 341 and result in a remaining unmet need.

Preferably, the cost of attendance, financial aid package information,and cost projection results are presented in terms of a particular timeperiod, such as a school term or a school year. FIG. 3D illustrates thecost projection information on a yearly basis, namely, 1999-2000,2000-2001 and 2001-2002.

An icon (not shown) may also preferably be included on the electronicscreen of FIG. 3D which, when activated, causes data to be sent to thestudent/parent 50 for presenting an electronic screen which is suitablefor calculating loan repayments (step 252, 254, FIG. 2D). With referenceto FIG. 3E, a loan repayment calculator for debt incurred for thecurrent award year is provided. The electronic screen of FIG. 3Eschematically illustrates an area 342 which provides a title,instructions for how to utilize the loan repayment calculator and/or adisclaimer. Area 344 includes the loan repayment calculator for astudent. If a parent desires to use the loan recalculator, the parentclicks on 345 and the screen of FIG. 3E1 is provided where area 346includes a loan repayment calculator for the parent.

The loan repayment calculator preferably provides information whichincludes at least one of (i) an amount of the loan; (ii) a number ofmonths for repayment of the loan; (iii) an interest rate of the loan;(iv) an amount of interest over the life of the loan (total interest);(v) an aggregate of the amount of the loan and the amount of theinterest of the loan (total principal plus interest); and (vi) a monthlypayment required to pay off the loan in the number of the months forrepayment of the loan. As shown in area 344, more than one loan may beincluded in the calculation, for example, Federal Perkins loans, FederalSubsidized Stafford loans, Federal Unsubsidized Stafford loans, etc.Private loans may also be included in the calculation.

Preferably, the student/parent 50 may add outstanding loan amounts tothe repayment schedule in order to change the monthly payments andtailor the loan repayment to their particular needs. Advantageously,students/parents 50 may become better informed regarding their financialaid award package, particularly in terms of their responsibilities forrepaying loans, and, therefore, may make a better decision as to whetherthe financial aid award package should be accepted or declined.

Preferably, area 344A may be activated by the student/parent 50 todisplay the monthly payments required to pay off the loans (step 256,FIG. 2D). In effect, activating this option shows how deferring interestaffects loan repayment schedules. If this is selected, the screen ofFIG. 3E2 is presented.

The parent repayment schedule at area 346 of FIG. 3E1 provides a parent50 with information regarding their obligation for repaying a parentloan. If the student/parent 50 has not secured a parental loan, area 346will not be displayed.

Preferably, the electronic screen of FIG. 3F includes an input fieldwhich, when activated, provides an electronic screen which contains loanrepayment information for debt incurred throughout the student's time atcollege (step 254, FIG. 2D). For example, the student/parent 50 mayactivate an icon which will cause an electronic screen to be provided tothe student/parent 50 which is schematically illustrated in FIG. 3F. Thestudent repayment schedule 350 includes all debt incurred throughout thestudent's college experience and also includes information regardingprior debt (such as debt incurred at previous schools). Thestudent/parent 50 may enter the prior debt into the appropriate inputfield which will increase the monthly payment required to pay off alloutstanding debts for the student's years of study.

An icon may also be provided (not shown) which, when activated by thestudent/parent 50, will calculate for informational purposes the monthlypayments required to pay off the loans (step 254, FIG. 2D).

If area 351 is selected, the screen of FIG. 3F1 will be presented.

The parent repayment schedule at area 352 of FIG. 3F1 provides a parent50 with information regarding their obligation for repaying a parentalloan. If the student/parent 50 has not secured a parental loan, area 352will not be displayed.

Advantageously, the financial projections calculator provides thestudent/parent 50 with a critical tool in making an informed decisionregarding the acceptance of a financial aid award package.

Reference is again made to FIG. 3C1 and, more specifically, to area 326.Preferably, the student/parent 50 is provided with an option to activatea “Change My Package” input field. When the “Change My Package” field isactivated, the student/parent 50 is preferably sent data for presentingan electronic screen which is illustrated in FIGS. 3G, 3G1, 3G2, 3G3,3G4, 3G5, 3G6 and 3G7 in accordance with the process flow of FIG. 2E.The electronic screen of FIGS. 3G1-3G7 preferably includes an area 356entitled “Package Worksheet” and initially contains the details of thefinancial aid award package provided in FIG. 2E (step 260). Inparticular, area 356 includes: (i) the cost of attending the school(FIG. 3G1); (ii) the financial aid award package in terms of grants,scholarships, jobs, and loans (FIGS. 3G2, 3G3, 3G4 and 3G5, 3G6 and3G7).

In general, the Change My Package Worksheet screen provides thestudent/parent 50 with the ability to make changes to his or herfinancial aid award package. In particular, one or more input fields areoperable to receive data from the student/parent 50 representing fundsother than those of the award to add to the award funds and change theunmet need of the student/parent 50. As an example, additional inputfields are provided at 358 into which the student/parent 50 may enterthe names and amounts of other grants received outside the financial aidaward package. Additional input fields are also provided at 360 intowhich the student/parent 50 may enter the names and amounts of otherscholarships outside the award package. In the jobs category (at 362)the student/parent 50 may change the amount of funds provided by theFederal work study, institutional work study, and/or teachingassistanceship. In addition, the amounts provided by the Federal Perkinsloan, Federal subsidized Stafford loan, Federal unsubsidized Staffordloan, and/or institutional loan at area 364 may be modified by thestudent/parent 50. Still further, the student/parent 50 may enter thenames and amounts of other financing options at areas 366 and 367 (FIGS.3G6 and 3G7) to further modify the unmet need.

The amounts entered in the input fields 358, 360, 362, 364, 366 and 367may be increased or decreased so long as certain rules (e.g.,minimum/maximum values) are not violated. For example, the amount of theFederal Pell grant, Federal SEOG, or State grant cannot be modified.Similarly, certain of the scholarships, etc., cannot be modified. Afterthe names and amounts are entered into the modified package worksheet,the student/parent 50 preferably clicks on a “change my package” icon368 in FIG. 3G8 (step 262, FIG. 2E). This updates the various totals,subtotals and the unmet need. The user also has the option to clear allchanges as shown by icon 369 (FIG. 3G8).

At step 264, FIG. 2E, a determination is made as to whether themodifications made by the student/parent 50 are valid. This is performedby using a set of eligibility rules based on the student's profile andthe selected award, taking into consideration any additional sources offinancing for the potential student. It is noted that the student/parent50 may invoke the cost projection calculator (step 220) if he or shewishes to obtain information as to the repayment of any loans.

In the event modifications made by the student/parent 50 are not valid,an error message will be presented. Error messages will be presented ifan invalid amount is entered in a field. FIGS. 3G9 and 3G10 showexamples of error messages. The error message will appear at the top andbottom of the screen, preferably in red. The user will have the optionto click on the message and go to the specific field of the error. Thefield will also have an indicator next to it showing where the invalidamount was entered. The user will not be able to proceed beyond screenspresenting the error message until the error is corrected.

Once the student/parent has completed the Change Package Worksheet andall awards and amounts are correct the user may then select from one ofthe navigation buttons located at the bottom of the worksheet. This isshown in FIG. 3G11. The icon “Use Planning Tools” takes the student toeducation planning tools to assist the student in the decision makingprocess. The icon “Revisit Your Package” takes the student to theoriginal package. The icon “Decide Later” allows the student to exit thesystem. The student will be allowed to return to the site as long as thestudent has a current package on the system that has not expired. The“Continue” button allows the student to continue with the process withthe newly changed package.

If the modifications made were valid, then the student/parent 50 mayreview the modified award by activating the “Continue” icon 370 (step266, FIG. 2E). Preferably, the “continue” icon 370, when activated,causes data to be sent to the student/parent 50 for presenting anelectronic screen which provides a confirmation as to the modified awardpackage. This advantageously provides the student/parent 50 with theopportunity to review the modification(s) made and thereafter confirmthe details of the modification.

As discussed previously, the system notifies users if there areeducational costs not covered by the package. If applicable,notification will appear when the user clicks on the continue button 370on the “Change My Package” page. If the student's educational costs arecovered by the award package, the screen shown in FIG. 3C3 will not bedisplayed and the user will go directly to the next step in the process.

The student can continue the process by clicking the “Next” button shownin FIG. 3C3. If the student needs to make additional changes to theaward package, the student must click on the “Back” button of FIG. 3C3.The student may also review other financing options available byclicking the “here” link shown in FIG. 3C3.

At this stage, the student/parent is provided with the opportunity tomake a decision with respect to the award package. If a student clickson the “Next” button (FIG. 3C3), the student will be presented with the“Make My Decision” page shown in FIG. 3I and 3I1. A summary of the awardpackage will appear as shown in FIGS. 3I and 3I1. The summary shows boththe original award package and the newly changed award package made bythe student. After the student reviews the package, a decision can bemade.

The student/parent 50 is preferably provided with several icons whichmay be activated to invoke: (i) the cost projection calculator (step220, FIG. 2E); (ii) acceptance of the (modified) package (step 276, FIG.2E); (iii) modification of the package (step 270, FIG. 2E); (iv) returnto the original award (step 272 FIG. 2E); and (v) deferring a decisionon the original or modified award (step 274, FIG. 2E). When the returnto original award icon is activated (step 272, FIG. 2E), the changesentered in the package worksheet of FIGS. 3G-3G11 will not be saved andthe original award (FIG. 3C) will be invoked. If the student/parent 50wishes to make new changes and invokes that icon (step 270, FIG. 2E),the process flow loops back to step 260 in FIG. 2E and the modifiedpackage worksheet of FIG. 3G is again presented.

With reference to FIG. 3G2, when the student is ready to make adecision, the “Make a Decision” area 326A shown in FIG. 3C2 ispresented. The student is given the option to accept the package,decline the package or decide later.

Referring again to FIG. 3C2, area 326A, the student/parent 50 mayactivate the “Accept this Package” icon (276, FIG. 2E), to accept theaward package.

Referring still to FIG. 3C2, area 326A, the student/parent 50 mayactivate the “Decline this Package” icon (step 284, FIG. 2E), to declinethe original award package. At step 286 the declination is confirmed. Ifthe package is declined, an electronic screen providing a “thank-you” orother message (see FIG. 3I2) appropriate for a student/parent 50 who isdeclining the package is presented (step 288). Further, a screenrequesting the reason for declining can also be presented. See FIG. 3I3.At step 290 the student/parent 50 is provided with an electronic screenfor logging out of the website.

Referring again to FIG. 3C2, area 326A, the student/parent 50 mayactivate the “Decide Later” icon (step 274, FIG. 2E), to postpone adecision as to whether to accept or decline the award package. Anelectronic screen providing an appropriate “thank-you” and/or othermessage is provided at step 292 (See FIG. 314) and at step 294 thestudent/parent 50 is provided with an electronic screen for logging outof the website.

When the student/parent 50 has accepted an award or modified awardpackage, the process flow preferably proceeds to a lender selectionprocess shown in FIG. 2F. At step 296, a determination is made as towhether the accepted award package includes any loans which require theselection of a lender. If there are no such loans, a thank-you isprovided as shown at step 296C followed by a logout (298D).

If a loan requires the selection of a lender, then the process flowpreferably proceeds to step 296B where an electronic screen as shown inFIG. 3H is preferably presented to the student/parent 50 which askswhether the student/parent 50 has previously taken out a loan forattending the school. If so, then an electronic screen is presented tothe student/parent 50 containing an appropriate thank-you (steps 296C,298C), followed by a logout (298D). If the student/parent 50 has notpreviously taken out a loan, then the student/parent 50 is asked whetherhe or she wishes to select a particular financial institution (such asChase Manhattan Bank) as the lender for all loans of the award (296E).If the response is yes, then the process flow preferably continues tostep 296F where an electronic screen is preferably presented to thestudent/parent 50 which confirms the selection of the lender. If theanswer is no, then the process flow preferably proceeds to step 296Gwhere an electronic screen is preferably presented to the student/parent50 which is schematically illustrated in FIG. 3H.

After a student has decided to accept the package, whether it is theoriginal package or one that has been changed, the system of theinvention will check over whether the award package contains any loans.If the system determines that a student needs to go through lenderselection because there are loans, the system will automatically selectthe appropriate lender selection module.

Depending upon the module, the lender selection process may begin withquestions to determine whether the student/parent has previouslyborrowed using, Stafford or PLUS loans. This is shown in the screen ofFIG. 3H. Upon completing the questions, the student/parent clicks“Continue”.

The lender selection program is dynamic in nature. FIG. 3H1 and 3H2present two examples to illustrate the dynamic nature of the process.Preferably, a plurality of lender selection processes are built into thesystem. These lender selection processes are preferably provided tosatisfy the varying needs of the varying educational institutions. Forexample, direct lending, FFELP lending and direct-hybrid lendingsituations are preferably all included. FIG. 3H1 shows an example of aschool that participation in FFELP lending and a student/parent having aprevious loan history. The student selects the previous lender from adrop down list or if the lender column is blank or the previous lenderis not in the list, “Other” is selected when the student/parent typesthe name of the previous lender in the box located to the right of thedrop down list. A student/parent also has the option of clicking on “DoNot Recall”. In contrast to the example of FIG. 3H1, FIG. 3H2 shows anexample of a student/parent who does not have a previous borrowinghistory. This specific loan type and the amounts to be financed aredisplayed as shown in FIG. 3H2. The student/parent chooses a lender fromthe drop down list. This list contains all the prescribed lendersassociated with the student's school. If a student chooses a lender thatis not on the drop down list by selecting “other”, the student will needto enter the lender name in the fill-in box. When the student/parent hascompleted lender selection, “Next” is selected to proceed to lenderconfirmation (Setp 296F, FIG. 2F).

After the student has chosen a lender, a confirmation page will appearas shown for example in FIG. 3H3. This will show all the lenders alongwith the loan types and amounts the student has selected. If the studentconfirms these are the right lenders, the student/parent clicks on thenext button to continue the process of submitting the package decisionto the financial aid office of the educational institution. If thestudent wishes to make changes, the student must click on the “back”button.

As shown, the electronic screen of FIGS. 3H1 and 3H2, preferablyincludes an area 374 containing at least one of: (i) the loans of theaward; (ii) the corresponding amount of the loan; and (iii) an inputfield operable to receive a command from the student/parent 50indicating which of a plurality of possible lenders is selected toprovide the funds for that loan. Preferably, area 374 of FIGS. 3H1 and3H2 includes all loans of the award that requires lender selection andthe corresponding amounts borrowed. For each loan, a pull down box ispreferably provided which includes a preferred lender among a pluralityof lenders, where the preferred lender is placed at the top of the listsuch that when the pull down box is closed, it is the only lender shown.The student/parent 50 preferably selects a lender for each loan byhighlighting one of the plurality of lenders within the pull down boxand submitting all selections.

If the student/parent 50 does not select a lender, then it is preferredthat an appropriate electronic screen or message is provided whichprompts the selection of a lender (step 296H).

At step 296F (FIG. 2F), an electronic screen is preferably presented tothe student/parent 50 listing the loans, amounts, and lenders selected.See FIG. 3H3. The electronic screen preferably includes an icon or otherinput field (e.g. Next) which requests that the student/parent 50confirm the selected lenders (step 296I).

At step 298, the student/parent 50 may approve the award package. Ifapproved, the user is presented with an electronic screen presenting thefinancial aid award package and selected lenders. FIGS. 316 and 317schematically illustrate the electronic screen suitable for thispurpose. In particular, area 380 shown in FIG. 317 preferably includesthe cost of attendance information, the expected monetary contribution,the financial award in terms of grants, scholarships, jobs and loans,the unmet need, the other financing options, etc., as well as theselected lenders for corresponding loans.

One or more icons or other input field(s) are preferably provided atarea 382 which, when activated, will submit the award and lenderselections to the financial aid office of the school (step 298A, FIG.2F). It is noted that the student/parent 50 may invoke the costprojection calculator 220 (FIG. 2D) to obtain more information for abetter decision as to whether to approve the financial aid award packageprior to submitting the award. If the package is accepted at step 298A,then the process flow may continue to step 298B where a determination asto whether a preferred lender was selected and, if so, providing anelectronic screen containing an appropriate “thank you” (step 298C). Ifthe preferred lender (such as Chase Manhattan Bank) was not selected,then the standard “thank you⇄ is preferably provided (step 296C). Ineither case, the process flow then preferably proceeds to the log-outprocedure (step 296D).

Once the award package has been submitted to the financial aid office ofthe institution, the student/parent no longer will be able to change thepackage in any way. The student will need to contact the financial aidoffice if the student has any further questions or issues concerningtheir decision. After submitting the package to the financial aidoffice, the student will preferably receive a congratulatory messageacknowledging the action. An example of such a screen is provided inFIG. 3I5.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3J which schematically illustrates anelectronic screen which is preferably presented to the student/parent 50when, for example, the Package History icon 308C (FIG. 3B) is activated.The electronic screen preferably provides information on who has visitedthe website concerning that student, the date and time that the websitewas visited, and any actions taken. For example, the student/parent 50may visit the website several times to review, modify, and accept anaward. Advantageously, the student/parent 50 may note any activitiesconcerning the award at any time.

To help a student/parent evaluate the award package, the system providesseveral planning tools to assist them. FIG. 3K shows an example of ascreen which can be presented to the student/parent. Preferably thefinancial planning tools include the Financial Projection Calculatorwhich estimates a projected total of the education cost, awards andfinancial need, if applicable, for the remaining years of the educationprogram. Another planning tool is a Current Award Year Loan RepaymentCalculator which estimates the total loan debt and monthly repaymentamount for each loan in the award package for the current year. Afurther tool is the Multiple Award Years-Loan Repayment Calculator whichestimates the total loan debt and monthly repayment amounts for eachloan borrowed during the full education program. These tools aredescribed with respect to FIGS. 3D, 3E, 3E1, 3E2, 3F and 3F1 and havebeen previously described. FIG. 3L shows that after submitting thefinancial aid package, a student can return to the site in order to beable to review the package and access information. FIG. 3L shows anexample of a screen presented. A student may view the award package byselecting the appropriate icon, in which case, the award package is thendisplayed, as shown, again referring to FIG. 317.

Advantageously, the present invention described above is a new methodand apparatus for providing students and parents with educationfinancing information, particularly financial aid award packages, wherethe student/parent can: (i) easily review the financial aid awardpackage; (ii) review cost projections (e.g., loan repaymentinformation); (iii) view and select potential lenders; (iv) modify afinancial aid award package to include, for example, other sources offunds outside the award or to increase/decrease, for example, theamount(s) of loan(s) awarded, so that a more informed decision may bemade.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4A and 5A which illustrates some of thestructure and function of the present invention when a schooladministrator 60 accesses the system. It is understood that the schooladministrator 60 connects to the website in a substantially similarmanner as the student, i.e., the administrator 60 must provide a user IDand password. At the website home page for a school administrator (step400) an electronic screen is preferably presented to the schooladministrator 60 such as that schematically shown in FIG. 5A.Preferably, the electronic screen includes a plurality of activatableicons at area 500 which invoke a plurality of functions permitting theschool administrator 60 to manipulate the system. In particular, thefollowing icons/functions are preferably provided: (i) upload studentaward batch; (ii) batch processing status; (iii) school profile menu;(iv) school administrator's list; (v) view user type rights; (vi)student search; and (vii) reporting.

When the administrator 60 selects the school home icon, the screen ofFIG. 5A1 is presented. If the “upload student award batch” icon, is theselected, an electronic screen is preferably presented to theadministrator 60 containing information schematically represented inFIG. 5B (step 404, FIG. 4A). The electronic screen preferably includesan area 502 containing an input field suitable for receiving a file namecontaining the financial award information for a particular student or agroup of students. An upload file icon is preferably also providedwhich, when activated, causes the file containing the financial awardinformation to be transmitted from the school to the network server 10over the network 20 (FIG. 1). Preferably, the input field in area 502 iscapable of receiving a batch of records to be uploaded to the networkserver 10 and, when the batch upload is complete (step 406) theadministrator 60 is prompted to upload another file if desired (step407). When the batch upload is complete, it is preferred that the schooladministrator 60 be sent data for presenting an electronic screenindicating that the record(s) have been successfully transmitted (SeeFIG. 5B1) (or not successfully transmitted).

When the “batch processing status” icon is activated (FIG. 5A), processflow preferably proceeds to step 408 (FIG. 4A) where data is preferablysent to the school administrator 60 over the computer network 20 forpresenting an electronic screen which contains information schematicallyillustrated in FIG. 5C. Preferably, the electronic screen includes anarea 504 containing a list of uploaded batches. Each batch preferablyrepresents a number of records, one record for each potential studentcontaining financial aid award and merit based award information forthat student. Optionally, a file name may be provided for each batch.More importantly, the status of the batch is also provided, the statusat least providing the number of records successfully transmitted to thedatabase.

It is preferred that the electronic screen of FIG. 5C include an inputfield 506 operable to receive a command from the school administrator 60which separates certain of the batch. By transmission status Inparticular, the school administrator 60 may select: (i) all batches;(ii) uploaded batches on queue to be processed; (iii) batched in theprocess; (iv) processed batches, and (vO rejected batches (step 410,FIG. 4A). (See FIG. 5C1).

Details as to the batch upload may be obtained by activating anappropriate icon “Go” in FIG. 5C1 which preferably causes data forpresenting an electronic screen to be sent to the administrator 60 (step411, FIG. 4A) containing additional details, such as the upload date,filename, the total records, details on the success/failure of theupload, the record ID, the field name, and any reasons for rejection asshown in FIG. 5C.

Referring again to FIG. 5A, when the school administrator 60 activatesthe “school profile menu”, the process flow preferably continues to step412 of FIG. 4B. In particular, data is preferably sent to the schooladministrator 60 over the network 20 for presenting an electronic screenwhich contains information schematically illustrated in FIG. 5D. Moreparticularly, the school administrator 60 may review or modify: (i)location and contact information; (ii) cost of attendance information:(iii) loan and lender information; (iv) non-loan award information; and(v) system parameter information. See 508 in FIG. 5D.

With reference to FIG. 4B, when the school administrator 60 activatesthe location and contact information icon at area 508 of FIG. 5D, theprocess flow preferably continues to step 413 which preferably causesdata to be provided to the school administrator 60 over the network 20for presenting an electronic screen (FIG. 5D1) containing input fieldsfor school location and contact information. More particularly, locationinformation, such as school name, school address, FICE/OPEIDinformation, branch code, school short name, branch name, and departmentname are preferably included. The school administrator 60 may modifythese parameters by inputting information into one or more input fieldsand submitting the information to the network server 10 by activating anappropriate icon. Other information, such as primary contact information(name, title, e-mail, phone, fax, etc.) input fields may be provided.Secondary contact information input fields may also be provided (such asname, title, e-mail, phone, fax, etc.). The above information issubmitted to the network server 10 over the computer network 20 byactivating an appropriate icon of the electronic screen at step 414. Atstep 415, a determination is made as to whether the data of the inputfields is valid and, if so, the information is submitted to the systemand process control returns to step 412, the school profile menu (FIG.5D).

When the school administrator 60 activates the “cost of attendanceinformation” icon at area 508 of FIG. 5D, process flow preferablyproceeds to step 416 (FIG. 4B) which causes an electronic screen to bepresented to the school administrator 60 containing informationschematically illustrated in FIG. 5E. In particular, the electronicscreen of FIG. 5E preferably includes an area 510 containing at leastone input field related to the cost of attending the educationalinstitution. Most preferably, the cost of attendance is divided intodirect costs 511 and indirect costs 512. For each of the direct andindirect costs, a corresponding input field is preferably provided intowhich the school administrator may enter numerical values representativeof the annual rate of increase which may be applied to the costs forattending the educational institution. For example, the direct cost mayinclude tuition, room and board, books and supplies, transportation,and/or miscellaneous expenses. Similarly, the indirect costs 512 mayinclude room and board, books and supplies, transportation, and/ormiscellaneous expenses.

With reference to FIG. 4B, any information input by the schooladministrator 60 into the input fields of area 510 (FIG. 5E) may besubmitted to the network server 10 over the network 20 by activating anappropriate icon (step 417. At step 418, a determination is made as towhether the data input by the school administrator is valid and, if so,process control returns to step 412, the school profile menu (FIG. 5D).

When the school administrator 60 activates the “loan and lenderinformation” icon at area 508 of FIG. 5D, process flow preferablycontinues to step 420 (FIG. 4B) which preferably causes data to be sentto the school administrator 60 over the network 20 for presenting anelectronic screen containing information schematically illustrated inFIG. 5F. In particular, the electronic screen preferably includes a listof the loans available for funding the financial aid award packages ofthe educational institution, namely, Perkins loans, subsidized Staffordloans, unsubsidized Stafford loans, additional unsubsidized Staffordloans, PLUS loans, institutional loans, private loans, etc. For eachloan, it is preferred that an input field be included into which acommand indicating the priority of that loan may be entered 514.Advantageously, the school administrator 60 can prioritize the displayof each loan as desired. Minimum and maximum amounts for each loan, theinterest rate, and the repayment period may also be provided for eachloan 515. Preferably, a list of lenders may also be viewed within theelectronic screen or, more preferably, an electronic screen is sent tothe school administrator containing a list of lenders for each loan(step 421, FIG. 4B) when an appropriate icon 516 is activated.

When the school administrator 60 has modified the information containedin the electronic screen of FIG. 5F, he or she may submit theinformation to the network server 10 through the computer network 20 byactivating an appropriate icon (step 422, FIG. 4B). At step 423, adetermination is made as to whether the data entered by the schooladministrator 60 is valid and, if so, the process control returns tostep 412, the school profile menu of FIG. 5D.

When the school administrator 60 selects the “non-loan awardinformation” icon at area 508 of FIG. 5D, process flow preferablycontinues to step 424 (FIG. 4B) which causes data to be sent to theschool administrator 60 over the computer network 20 for presenting anelectronic screen containing information schematically illustrated inFIG. 5G. Preferably, the electronic screen of FIG. 5G includesinformation on grants 518, scholarships 520 and jobs (not shown), eachcontaining lists of the respective grants, scholarships, and jobsavailable. For each source of funding, it is preferred that an inputfield be provided into which the school administrator may enter apriority level. Further, it is preferred that for each source offunding, a minimum and maximum value may be specified.

When the school administrator 60 wishes to submit any modifiedinformation regarding the grants, scholarships, and/or jobs he or sheactivates an appropriate icon which causes the process flow to continueto step 425 (FIG. 4B). At step 426, a determination is made as towhether the information provided by the school administrator 60 is validand, if so, the process control returns to step 412, the school profilemenu (FIG. 5D). For each award, it is preferred that an input field beincluded into which a command indicating the priority of the award maybe entered. Advantageously, the school administrator 60 can prioritizethe display of each award as desired.

When the school administrator 60 selects the “system parametersinformation” icon, process flow preferably continues to step 428 (FIG.4B) which causes data to be sent to the administrator 60 over thecomputer network 20 for presenting an electronic screen containinginformation schematically represented in FIG. 5H. The electronic screenof FIG. 5H preferably includes a plurality of input fields operable toreceive information concerning the particular conventions of theeducational institution. In particular, input fields concerning thelength and periodicity of the academic term for the educationalinstitution are preferably provided at area 522. Aging parameters arepreferably entered into input fields at area 523. Preferences arepreferably set by selecting yes/no toggles at area 524, including butnot limited to: display indirect cost, display cost of attendance,display package history, display line item breakdown, allow downloadablespreadsheet, whether Federal unsubsidized loans are packaged, whethertuition payment plans are available, whether the school is subject to aone lender rule, and/or whether the school will transmit outstandingdebts. The lender selection module is preferably set by selecting from adrop down list at area 525.

The above information may be submitted to the network server 10 over thecomputer network 20 by activating an appropriate icon (step 429, FIG.4B). At step 430, the information provided by the school administrator60 is reviewed to determine whether such data is valid and, if so,process control returns to step 412, the school profile menu (FIG. 5D).

Referring again to FIG. 5A, when the school administrator selects the“Add/Modify/Deleting school administrator” icon, the process flowpreferably continues to step 431 (FIG. 4C) which causes data to be sentto the school administrator 60 over the computer network 20 forpresenting one or more electronic screens (FIG. 5H1) which containinformation concerning the various administrators who may access thesystem. In particular, it is preferred that such electronic screensinclude input fields and lists suitable for viewing, adding, modifyingand/or deleting administrators authorized to access the system. FIG. 5H2shows an input field for adding/modifying/deleting administrator users.Additionally, it is preferred that the electronic screens include listsand input fields suitable for receiving information regarding eachadministrator, such as the administrator's name, the user name, thepassword, the user type, e-mail address, etc. When such information isfirst input or modified, an administrator 60 may submit the informationto the network server 10 over the computer network 20 by activating anappropriate icon. The process control then returns to step 402 (FIG.4A).

FIG. 4D shows an optional embodiment of the system. In this optionalembodiment, which need not be provided, when the school administrator 60selects the “customization” icon (not shown), process control preferablycontinues to step 432 (FIG. 4D) which causes data to be sent to theschool administrator over the computer network 20 for presenting one ormore electronic screens which contain information concerning thecustomization of information provided to the potential students in thefinancial aid award package. In particular, it is preferred that theelectronic screens include input fields operable to receive inputconcerning but not limited to the following: (i) a change of logo (step434); (ii) welcome text to a new user (step 435); (iii) welcome text toa return user (step 436); (iv) declination text (step 437); (v)congratulations text (step 438); (vi) decide later text (step 439);(vii) financial aid policies (step 440); (viii) financial aideligibility requirements (step 441); and (ix) sell copy for school (step442).

In order to facilitate a change in any one or more of the abovecategories, a school administrator 60 would input the modifiedinformation into the appropriate input field and submit the informationby activating an appropriate icon which would transfer that informationto the network server 10 over the computer network 20. Thereafter, thesubject information would appear in appropriate areas of the electronicscreens discussed above, for example, when a student/parent 50 reviews,modifies, accepts, declines, etc., his or her award package.

When the school administrator 60 selects the “student” icon (FIG. 5A),the process flow preferably proceeds to step 443 (FIG. 4E) which causesdata to be sent to the school administrator 60 over the computer network20 for presenting electronic screen containing information which isschematically illustrated in FIG. 5I. Upon clicking on “student search”,the school administrator 60 is provided with the ability to search for astudent award package, for example, by way of student ID number, studentlast name, and/or student first name, by entering the appropriateinformation into input fields at area 526, as shown in FIG. 5I1. Whenthe search icon is activated, the process flow preferably proceeds tostep 445 which causes data to be sent to the school administrator 60 forpresenting an electronic screen which contains a list of financial aidaward packages which have been sent to specific students meeting thesearch criteria. FIG. 5I2 shows such a list. FIG. 5I3 shows a detailpage when a student from the list has been selected.

FIG. 5I3 shows a sample of a student detail page which contains thestudent's personal information along with options to view/input astudent response, view the student's package history and delete thestudent award package. The administrator selects and activates aparticular icon to select an option.

When a particular financial aid award package is selected from a list,data is preferably sent to the school administrator 60 for presenting anelectronic screen which contains icons which, when activated, invokecertain functions, namely, viewing the award package (step 446),inputting a student response (i.e., acting on behalf of a student) atstep 447, and viewing the package history (step 448). After the schooladministrator 60 has viewed the award package, acted on behalf of astudent and/or viewed the package histories, the process controlpreferably returns to step 402 (FIG. 4A).

When the school administrator 60 selects the “Reporting” icon (FIG. 5A),the control sequence preferably continues to step 450 (FIG. 4E), whichcauses data to be sent to the school administrator 60 for presenting anelectronic screen which includes information schematically representedin FIG. 5J. In particular, the electronic screen preferably includes anarea 528 having one or more input fields operable to receive criteriaconcerning the financial aid award packages sent to potential students.The criteria is selected by the school administrator 60 in a way whichwill produce a useful search result. In particular, a search may beperformed on the status of a student's action related to an awardpackage, for example: (i) all students; (ii) students who have accepted;(iii) students who have declined; (iv) students who have received theirpackages but have not decided; (v) students whose records have beendisabled by the school administrator 60; or (vi) students who have notvisited or received their packages. See FIG. 5J1. The search criteriamay also include a range of dates. The order of the resulting search mayalso be controlled, for example, by sorting based on student ID, studentlast name and action dae. FIG. 5J2 shows a sample screen presentingreport results.

Once the report criteria have been entered, the process flow preferablycontinues to step 452 which causes data to be sent to the schooladministrator 60 for presenting an electronic screen containing a listof financial aid award packages which meet the criteria. At step 454, ifthe school administrator 60 wishes to view another report, then theprocess control returns to step 450 and the school administrator 60 isprompted to enter another set of criteria.

The reporting menu provides the school administrator 60 with the abilityto generate two types of reports; ad hoc reports and predefined reports.Each report can be either viewed on the screen or downloaded to anextract file. As shown in FIG. 5JI, on the left side of the reportingmenu screen is the ad hoc report query box. Using a drop down list theuser selects the desired student status as shown in FIG. 5J1. The useralso enters a date range in these fill in boxes. The user can create anextract file in Microsoft Access DB format that contains the studentaward package detail submitted by the student via the system. In orderto do this, the school administrator 60 clicks on “download file” asshown in FIG. 5J1. To review the report results on the screen, theschool administrator 60 clicks on “submit” as shown in FIG. 5J1. FIG.5J2 is an example of a report obtained.

In order to download an extract file in Microsoft Access DB format, thatcontains the student award package detail submitted by the student, theschool administrator 60 clicks the “download file” button. A browserwindow then appears, as shown in FIG. 5J3. The school administrator 60then selects the location to which the file is to be downloaded, thenclicks “save” in which case the file is downloaded to the school'ssystem in Microsoft Access DB format.

On the right side of the screen of FIG. 5J1, a list of predefinedreports appears. In order to review a report, the school administrator60 clicks the name of the report. Once the report is displayed theschool administrator 60 has the option to download it, as describedabove. The school can then use a spread sheet program to analyze theresults off-line.

Thus, the educational institution can download reporting results basedupon ad hoc queries and predefined reports, as described, to theeducational institution's other electronic systems for conversion into aformat useful to the educational institution for the purpose of updatingthe institution's system electronically.

Advantageously the method and system is operable to: (i) reduce thecosts for a school to transmit financial aid award packages to potentialstudents; (ii) quickly modify the financial aid award packages based onaccept/decline/postpone decisions of the students/parents; and (iii)provide influence on the student/parent decision at the time ofreviewing the award package.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 6A and 7A which illustrate at least partof the process flow and the home page, respectively, for a systemadministrator 70 who has successfully logged onto the website over thecomputer network 20 or directly to the network interface 16 (FIG. 1).Preferably, when the process reaches step 600, data is transmitted tothe system administrator 70 for presenting one or more electronicscreens which contain information which is schematically illustrated inFIG. 7A, in particular, one or more icons are preferably provided atarea 700, namely, school administration, access control, and reporting.Within school administration, a system administrator 70 may selectbetween add/modify/delete award; add/modify/delete lender; and searchschool.

When the system administrator 70 selects the “search school” icon,process flow preferably proceeds to step 601 which causes data to betransmitted to the system administrator 70 for presenting an electronicscreen which contains information which is schematically illustrated inFIG. 7B. The electronic screen preferably includes an area 702 whichcontains input fields operable to receive information from the systemadministrator 70 regarding search criteria, namely, the schoolFICE/OPEID information, the branch code information, and/or the schoolname. When a search icon 704 is activated, a search of the database 14is conducted for schools which meet the criteria (step 602, FIG. 6A).

Preferably, the search results (step 603) are provided to the systemadministrator 70 by way of data which is transmitted over the network 20or directly to the system administrator 70 for presenting an electronicscreen. A school may be added or information concerning that school maybe modified (step 604) and, thereafter, process flow continues to step605 which causes an electronic screen to be transmitted to the systemadministrator 70 containing information which is schematicallyillustrated in FIG. 7C. The electronic screen preferably includes anarea 706 having a number of activatable icons which invoke otherelectronic screens and functions. In particular, it is preferred thatwhen any of the icons are activated, an electronic screen containinginformation concerning that icon is presented to the systemadministrator 70, for example: (i) location and contact information(step 606, FIG. 6B); (ii) cost of attendance information (step 608);(iii) loan and lender information (step 610); (iv) non-loan awardinformation (step 612); (v) system parameter information (step 614).These functions mirror those of FIG. 5D; however, the systemadministrator 70 may view, add, modify, and/or delete such informationusing appropriate input fields contained in one or more electronicscreens.

As shown in FIG. 7C, the system administrator is presented with schoolstatus menus 706 a and 706 b. Menu 706 a allows the administrator to 1)completely disable the ability of a student/parent 50 or school toaccess any student awards; 2) allow school access but preventstudent/parent access to award information; and 3) enable access to theaward information. Menu 706 b allows the administrator the ability toshut down the uploading capacity provided by the system.

When the system administrator 70 selects the “associate school withaward” icon of FIG. 7C, the process flow preferably proceeds to step 616(FIG. 6C) which causes data to be transmitted to the systemadministrator 70 for presenting an electronic screen which containsinformation which is schematically illustrated in FIG. 7D. Preferably,the electronic screen includes a list of potential awards 708 which maybe included in a financial aid award package and a list of awardsoffered by a particular school 710. Using icons 712 and 713, the systemadministrator 70 may advantageously add (step 617) or delete (step 618),respectively, awards to and from the list of awards offered by aparticular school in the list. When the list of awards offered by theschool has been modified, the system administrator 70 may submit (step619) the revised list by activating icon 714.

Thereafter, the database 14 is updated with the new information and theprocess control returns to step 605 (FIG. 6A).

When the system administrator 70 selects the “associate school/awardwith lender” icon (FIG. 7C), the process flow preferably proceeds tostep 622 (FIG. 6C). Step 622 causes the screen of FIG. 7E to bepresented where the lender is associated with the school/award.Preferably, the electronic screen of FIG. 7E includes a list ofpotential lenders 716 which may be associated with a particular schoollisted at area 718. The system administrator 70 may advantageously addor delete a particular lender to or from the list of lenders for aparticular school by activating an add icon 720 or a delete icon 722,respectively. These steps coincide with steps 623 and 625 of FIG. 6C.When the system administrator 70 has finished adding or deleting lendersfrom the list 718, he or she may submit the new information byactivating the submit icon 724 (step 624, FIG. 6C).

Thereafter, the database 14 is updated with the new information and theprocess control returns to step 605 (FIG. 6A).

With reference to FIG. 7A, when the system administrator 70 selects the“add/modify/delete award” icon, the process flow preferably proceeds tostep 630 (FIG. 6D) which causes data to be transmitted to the systemadministrator 70 for presenting an electronic screen (not shown) whichcontains information, input fields, and/or activatable icons suitablefor permitting the system administrator to add/modify/delete or viewinformation regarding the profile of a school that is a user of thesystem. In particular, a financial aid award may be added at step 632,viewed at step 634 and/or deleted at step 635 (FIG. 6D). Those skilledin the art will appreciate from the description herein above that thesefunctions may be carried out using suitable electronic screens.Preferably, the system administrator does not have access to studentaward packages.

When the system administrator 70 selects the “add/modify/delete lender”icon (FIG. 7A), the process flow preferably proceeds to step 640 (FIG.6E) which causes data to be sent to the system administrator 70 forpresenting an electronic screen (not shown) containing information,input fields, and/or executable icons suitable for permitting the systemadministrator 70 to add/modify/delete or view a lender. A lender may beadded at step 642, viewed at step 644 and/or deleted at step 645.

With reference to FIG. 6F, those skilled in the art will appreciate thatadditional data may be transmitted to the system administrator 70 whichcontains information, input fields, and/or executable icons, etc.,suitable for presenting additional electronic screens for providing thefollowing functions: (i) viewing/modifying system parameters, step 650;(ii) viewing user type rights, step 652; (iii) adding/modifying/deletingsystem and school administrators, steps 654; and (iv) resetting studentpasswords, step 656.

When the system administrator 70 selects the “reporting” icon (FIG. 7A),the process flow preferably proceeds to step 660 (FIG. 6F) which causesdata to be provided to the system administrator 70 for presenting anelectronic screen containing information which is schematicallyillustrated in FIG. 7F. Preferably, the electronic screen includes aplurality of input fields suitable for receiving search criteria fromthe system administrator 70. The criteria are used to search thedatabase 14 to produce a report of interest to the administrator 70. Inparticular, the administrator 70 may input at least one of the followingcriteria: (i) the particular school 730; (ii) the student status 732(i.e., all students, those students who have accepted, those studentswho have declined, those students who have not decided, and thosestudent who have not visited the website); (iii) a particular lender734; (iv) a range of dates 736; and (v) a sorting protocol, such as theorder in which the criteria are searched, for example, first the school,next the student, and lastly the lender.

When the search criteria is submitted, the process flow preferablyproceeds to step 662 (FIG. 6F) and a report is provided to the systemadministrator 70 as part of an electronic screen (not shown). If thesystem administrator 70 wishes to view another report, at step 664 theprocess control preferably returns to step 660 where the administrator70 is requested to select additional criteria.

Although the present invention has been described in relation toparticular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modificationsand other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It ispreferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by thespecific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.

1. A method of providing a user with education financing information,comprising the acts of: maintaining an electronic site on a computernetwork to which the user may connect; receiving at the electronic site,financial award information concerning a potential student of aneducational institution, the financial award information originatingfrom an entity other than user, the financial award informationincluding an award which may be used by the student to attend theeducational institution, wherein the award comprises funds taken from atleast one loan; sending data to the user over the network for presentingat least one electronic screen which contains the financial awardinformation; sending data to the user over the network when requestedfor presenting at least one electronic screen which contains costprojection information, the cost projection information including loanrepayment information for the at least one loan; and sending data to theuser over the computer network for presenting at least one electronicscreen which includes an input field operable to receive a command fortransmission over the computer network indicating that the user wishesto at least one of accept, decline, and defer a decision on, the award.2. A method of providing users with education financing information,comprising the acts of: maintaining an electronic site on a computernetwork to which the users and an administrator of an educationalinstitution may connect; sending data to each of the users over thenetwork for presenting at least one electronic screen which containsfinancial award information concerning potential students of aneducational institution, the financial award information including amonetary award which may be used for the respective students to attendthe educational institution, the award including funds taken from atleast one of grants, scholarships, loans, and employment of the student;sending data to the administrator over the computer network forpresenting at least one electronic screen which includes reportinginformation indicating whether respective users have at least one ofaccepted, declined, and deferred a decision on, the respective awards;and sending modified financial award information to at least one of thepotential students, the modified financial award information includingat least one modified monetary award based on the reporting information.3. The method of claim 2, wherein the financial award informationincludes at least one cost for respective students to attend theeducational institution.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the at leastone cost includes direct and indirect costs.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein the direct costs include at least one of tuition, room, board,books, supplies, and transportation; and the indirect costs include atleast one of room, board, books, supplies, and transportation.
 6. Themethod of claim 2, further comprising the act of: sending data to theadministrator over the computer network for presenting at least oneelectronic screen which includes a plurality of input fields operable toreceive at least one of (i) types of loans for funding the awards; (ii)a plurality of lenders for providing each type of loan; (iii) an amountfor each type of loan; (iv) an interest rate for each type of loan; (v)a repayment period for each type of loan; (vi) a priority for each typeof loan; (vii) types of grants; (viii) an amount for each type of grant;(ix) an annual rate of increase for each type of grant; (x) a priorityfor each type of grant; (xi) types of scholarships; (xii) an amount foreach type of scholarship; (xiii) an annual rate of increase for eachtype of scholarship; (xiv) a priority for each type of scholarship; and(xv) type and amount of employment of the student.
 7. The method ofclaim 6, wherein: (i) the amount for each type of loan includes aminimum amount and a maximum amount; (ii) the amount for each type ofgrant includes a minimum amount and a maximum amount; (iii) the amountfor each type of scholarship includes a minimum amount and a maximumamount; and (iv) the amount of employment of the student includes aminimum and a maximum amount.
 8. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising the acts of: sending data to the administrator over thecomputer network for presenting at least one electronic screen whichincludes at least one input field operable to receive at least onesearch criteria to compare against a database containing the financialaward information; searching the database and extracting the financialaward information which meets the search criteria; and sending data tothe administrator over the computer network for presenting at least oneelectronic screen which includes the financial award information whichmeets the search criteria.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the searchcriteria is at least one of: a student's first name, a student's lastname, a student's identification number, whether an award has beenaccepted, whether an award has been declined, whether an award ispending, a number of times that a user has accessed the electronic site,a starting date, and an ending date.
 10. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising downloading at least one of the reporting information,reporting results based on ad hoc queries and other reports to anothersystem of the educational institution for conversion to a format usefulto the institution for updating the institution's other systemelectronically.
 11. An apparatus for providing users with educationfinancing information, comprising: a processor; a storage medium coupledto the processor; and a network interface coupled to the processor andoperable to send and receive data over a computer network, the processorbeing operable to execute instructions in accordance with a computerprogram which is at least partially stored in the storage medium, thecomputer program being operable to instruct at least one of theprocessor and the network interface to perform the functions of:maintaining an electronic site on a computer network to which the usersand an administrator of an educational institution may connect; sendingdata to each of the users over the network for presenting at least oneelectronic screen which contains financial award information concerningpotential students of an educational institution, the financial awardinformation including a monetary award which may be used for therespective students to attend the educational institution, the awardincluding funds taken from at least one of grants, scholarships, loans,and employment of the student; sending data to the administrator overthe computer network for presenting at least one electronic screen whichincludes reporting information indicating whether respective users haveat least one of accepted, declined, and deferred a decision on, therespective awards; and sending modified financial award information toat least one of the potential students, the modified financial awardinformation including at least one modified monetary award based on thereporting information.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein thefinancial award information includes at least one cost for respectivestudents to attend the educational institution.
 13. The apparatus ofclaim 12, wherein the at least one cost includes direct and indirectcosts.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the direct costs includeat least one of tuition, room, board, books, supplies, andtransportation; and the indirect costs include at least one of room,board, books, supplies, and transportation.
 15. The apparatus of claim11, wherein the computer program is further operable to instruct atleast one of the processor and the network interface to perform thefunction of: sending data to the administrator over the computer networkfor presenting at least one electronic screen which includes a pluralityof input fields operable to receive at least one of (i) types of loansfor funding the awards; (ii) a plurality of lenders for providing eachtype of loan; (iii) an amount for each type of loan; (iv) an interestrate for each type of loan; (v) a repayment period for each type ofloan; (vi) a priority for each type of loan; (vii) types of grants;(viii) an amount for each type of grant; (ix) an annual rate of increasefor each type of grant; (x) a priority for each type of grant; (xi)types of scholarships; (xii) an amount for each type of scholarship;(xiii) an annual rate of increase for each type of scholarship; and(xiv) a priority for each type of scholarship; and (xv) type and amountof employment of the student.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein:(i) the amount for each type of loan includes a minimum amount and amaximum amount; (ii) the amount for each type of grant includes aminimum amount and a maximum amount; (iii) the amount for each type ofscholarship includes a minimum amount and a maximum amount; and (iv) theamount of employment of the student includes a minimum and a maximumamount.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the search criteria is atleast one of: a student's first name, a student's last name, a student'sidentification number, whether an award has been accepted, whether anaward has been declined, whether an award is pending, a number of timesthat a user has accessed the electronic site, a starting date, and anending date.
 18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein at least one of thereporting information, reporting results based on ad hoc queries andother reports can be downloaded to another system of the educationalinstitution for conversion to a format useful to the institution forupdating the institution's other system electronically.